Mr Mom "Scorecard" [Day 4 April 25, 2007, Thursday]

The week is almost over. I am going to make it! As I was taking the kids down to the bus this morning, I asked them if I've done a good job.

It wasn't all good but they may have been busting my chops (I deserve it, I bust their chops every chance I get).

Given their not so stellar review, I thought that I'd rate myself on a series of key categories to see how I've done.

Waking up, brushing teeth and eating breakfast:
4 out of 5.
Totally forgot to wash Syd's face this AM and noticed it as I was saying goodbye to her at the bus stop. Bits of chocolate donut on her face, very cool.

Following mom's instructions:
5 out of 5.
Followed them perfectly. When Julia accused me of not following the instructions when I didn't pack her lunch on Thursday, I suddenly became F. Lee Baily and showed her PROOF. In yer face kid.

Dinner, homework and showers:
6 out of 5.
Despite them not liking dinner 2 nights (I made them eat some anyway), dinner worked out well. Showers went surprisingly well also - they are old enough that I just turn on the water and walk away. Bonus point for making cookies twice - the second time we put the hot cookies in a bowl and made sundaes. That's niiiiice.

Keeping the house clean:
2 out of 5.
I did remember to turn on the roomba in the kitchen. It's a damn mess everywhere else.

The final score:
17 out of a possible 20 isn't too bad!

Mr Mom "Tired" [Day 3 April 25, 2007, Wednesday]

Today I'm tired. Yes, I am to blame as I stayed up way too late editing the video from yesterday. And then I played some video games before falling asleep, so yea it's my fault.

Today was rough. I've got the wake-up, do breakfast, get dressed, catch the bus thing down, but now I'm getting into some new issues.

Like why is there MORE laundry to do?

And how about: how is it possible that I've already done the dishes, but somehow we're already out of forks again?

Also, homework sucks.

And how the hell am I supposed to both cook dinner and drop and pick up the kids simultaneously? How is that even physically possible?

But not all is lost from Day 3... I did a Junior Achievement lesson for my daughter's 4th grade class. I love doing JA as it let's me live my dream of being a teacher in a very small way. Today, we learned about Scarcity.

You know what is scarce? The amount of time I have had this week to fricken relax for 2 seconds.

I also coach girls softball (where do I find the time?) and our first game was tonight. It got rained out - BUT we scrimmaged and got wet. Fun stuff. I love coaching and I'm better at it than being a stay at home mommy. Way better.

That said, the wife told me I was doing a good job today - sweet! Even so, Saturday can't come fast enough.

Mr Mom "the Video" [Day 2 April 24, 2007, Tuesday]

The Mr. Mom blog has gone video!

Shot from 6:30 to 9 PM on Day 2, I think you might enjoy this. What ended up on the cutting room floor was us watching American Idol, fighting over brushing teeth and nudity (after showers, there tends to be a lot of naked running around the house).

Enjoy.

Mr Mom [Day 2 April 24, 2007, Tuesday]

Is this what it is like to be a single mom?

OH

MY

GOD.

How the hell is it possible to sustain this pace for more than a single day?

Yesterday was good actually, but by 8 PM I was exhausted after finishing laundry, picking up the dog, cooking dinner (and then cookies!), cleaning up, doing homework (checking it actually), arguing over bed time, watching Dancing with the Stars at gun point and finally speeding through last nights pretty good episode of Heroes.

Needless to say, I slept pretty well last night!

However, Tuesday is already shaping up to be a doozy. I was warned yesterday by the kennel that a "new strain" of kennel cough is going around. As per usual, I figured no problemo - my dog won't get it - he's a super dog with a super immune system. Pure bred goodness. Check out that stud:



Sure enough I woke up to the sweet sounds of the dog coughing up a lung. So now, instead of heading to the train to try to get to my office, I'm headed directly to the vet to get some meds for the dog.

This brings me back to the single mother thing. How the hell am I supposed to actually get any work done? Impossible.

Much respect to single moms (and dads) out there, or frankly - to anyone who has to do everything themselves for more than 24 hours.

I do have to give myself a single prop/hell yea/dad is the man moment... my 7 year old had sandals on and just before we left for the bus I asked her "Do you have gym today?"

The answer was of course YES, and she quickly changed into sneakers. Crisis avoided!

Mr Mom [Day 1 April 23, 2007, Monday]

We got back very late last night from Nashville landing around 8:30, almost 2 hours late. American Airlines was 2 for 2 this trip - both ends of the flight were delayed. Ah well. In any case, the girls had a great flight, they really are angels. They are also keenly aware that daddio is over his head a bit and cooperated and acted perfectly the entire trip.



After we landed we called to talk to mommy - my favorite part (and proudest) was when Sydney told her mom that she had Coke for dinner (no food, just a Coke). Yea, nice job pops, off to a great start. I did manage to get Julia to eat something before we took off, so points there I guess.

When we finally got home, I forced the kids to brush their teeth and hit the sack immediately. They were tired, no problems there at all.

Somehow, I remembered to defrost the bread (see picture below).



In the morning, I woke up early and made lunch. Making lunch felt a bit like an improv act - I was stumbing around the kitchen, looking for different things that would fit nicely or be edible to toss into the kids bags. I did OK according to Julia who I believe was actually a tiny bit impressed.

Sydney cooperated by getting out of bed by 7:10 and not fussing all that much. I did however have to pull her out of bed (Julia reminded me to simply pick her up). In Mr. Mom fashion I dropped her to her feet on the fireplace. That got a laugh.

Julia made Sydney breakfast (waffles) and I started to devise a plan by which Julia would do all the work and I'd simply sit back and "manage." The best plans are the simplest they say.

As they were eating, I started laundry.

Question:
Which is worse:
A) The loading of dirty, smelly clothes,
B) The unloading of wet soggy clothes
C) Folding and putting away

I'll let you know when it's all done. The 2nd load is in right now.

Just before I took them down to the bus stop, we all reviewed the shopping list I put together. We all agreed that it looks OK, but I have this odd feeling that I'll need to go shopping 300 times this week, each time forgetting 1 thing that I really needed.

Mr Mom - Laundry

Mr Mom - Laundry
Originally uploaded by msirkin.

As I prepare for a week with the kids all on my lonesome, I've started noticing things around the house designed to ease my transition. My wife in this case has prepared specific laundry instructions for me, taking care to highlight some of the more important nuances of washing laundry.

Bathing suits must be hand washed for example (I'll just leave that until she gets back I think).

I also especially liked that she taped the instructions to the washing machine securely. The question I have is - what happens if I don't wander by and notice the note, prompting me to remember to actually do the laundry?

Perhaps a string around my finger would do the trick!

Mr. Mom

Be afraid kids, very afraid.

My wife is headed to Florida next week for some family stuff and is leaving me to tend for my 2 kids all week.

I'm going to blog about my week as Mr. Mom as best I can starting on Sunday night if possible. Here are a few of the things I'm going to have figure out:

- laundry (haven't done laundry I think since college)
- dinner every night (hey, I do cook every so often, but not every night!)
- putting kids to sleep on time (and not watching an extra episode of The Simpsons with them instead)
- getting kids to school on time
- girls hair
- girls clothes
- hell, anything to do with getting girls ready to go out into the world
- snacks
- checking homework
- picking up and dropping off of various kids
- showering myself
- getting some sleep
- getting to work and then home without forgetting the kids schedules
- softball games
- lacross practice

OH MY FRICKEN GOD.

This can't possibly end well.

Stay tuned.